Gas hydrates expert wins lifetime achievement award

Professor Bahman Tohidi, Director of the Centre for Gas Hydrate Research and Centre for Flow Assurance Research (C-FAR) at Heriot-Watt, has been given the International Lifetime Achievement Award at the 9th International Conference on Gas Hydrates, in Denver, Colorado.

The Award is given for significant, continuous contributions to the area of hydrate research, practice and/or exploration, for a period of twenty years or more.

Professor Tohidi’s citation noted, “The Ninth International Conference on Gas Hydrates 2017 recognises Professor Bahman Tohidi for his contribution to the study of gas hydrates in flow assurance. He is the director of a leading international hydrate flow assurance group. In addition, his extensive publications have contributed greatly to our understanding and remediation of gas hydrate induced flow assurance problems.”

Professor Tohidi said, “I am delighted to receive this lifetime achievement award from ICGH9. It is a recognition of our hard work over the past 30 years in establishing an International Centre for Gas Hydrate Research at Heriot-Watt University. I would like to take this opportunity to thank colleagues, staff and students, past and present, for all their support over the years.”

Professor Tohidi came to the Institute of Petroleum Engineering (IPE) 1991, graduating in 1995 with a PhD in Petroleum Engineering before taking up a postdoctoral position. He was instrumental in making gas hydrates a research group in its own right, and ultimately securing a major grant from the then Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to set up the Centre for Gas Hydrate Research at IPE in 2001, establishing Heriot-Watt as a leader in gas hydrate research globally.

Professor Tohidi is author or co-author on more than 400 publications and 10 patents, predominately on gas hydrates, flow assurance and reservoir fluid PVT. A specialist in hydrates and flow assurance, he is particularly well-known for his research in this area, from fundamental phase behaviour and thermodynamic modelling to LDHIs and cold flow.

Heriot-Watt’s Chief Scientist, Professor John Underhill said, “Bahman’s Lifetime Achievement award is richly deserved. Since joining Heriot-Watt in 1991, he has led the Hydrate, Flow Assurance and Phase Equilibria Research Group with distinction, set up a successful spin-out company and inspired a whole generation of students in Petroleum Engineering and Production Technology, all of which contributed to Heriot-Watt winning the Queen’s Anniversary Award for the second time last year”.

“Coming so soon after international awards for Professors Eric MacKay and Sebastian Geiger, the acclaim for Bahman’s lifetime of academic achievements serves to underline the world-class nature of research and training being carried out in our Institute of Petroleum Engineering”.